Hi everyone! Today I’m super excited to share with you the results of a truly amazing art journal collaboration in which I’ve been privileged to participate in the last 9 months!

Tina Walker, a fabulous mixed-media artist and designer at StencilGirl Products (and one of my role models!), invited me and a wonderful group of ladies to be a part of the challenge. Our assignment was to select a blank Resketch sketchbook, pick a color to work with, and create an art journal featuring our choice of stencils from the expansive Stencil Girl product line.

My journal, entitled “New Learning Curves,” is all about how I turned 40 in the last year, and the struggle to love and accept my physical self through the inevitable changes that tend to accompany a woman’s journey into middle age. For me, the transition has been a bit of a rocky one. In addition to the typical weight gain and nagging injuries that most of us deal with as we reach this age, I’ve been learning how to live with chronic illness. In 2018 I was diagnosed with a vestibular disturbance caused by damage to my inner ear, which affects my balance and causes occasional flare-ups of dizziness and vertigo. In January of this year, I also began treatment for IBS, a condition impacting the digestive tract. Sometimes it’s a challenge for me to love my body in what has become my “new normal,” and this journal documents my transition in a way that is affirming and inspiring.

Cover, featuring Soulful Scribbles Dots Dash stencil

As you can see, the color I selected for my journal was orange, and it was a lot of fun working with it along with all of the awesome StencilGirl stencils in my stash! I also used vintage and patterned papers, Washi tape, stamps, ink, stickers, rub-ons, paper flowers, Dresden, a Dymo label maker, altered magazine images, pens, die-cut borders, and my antique typewriter.

Those of us in the Resketch Collaboration can’t let you leave without saying THANK YOU for stopping by and sharing in our color journal story. And as a special thank-you, we also have a GIVEAWAY! We are giving away a random selection of Resketch journals AND a $25 StencilGirl gift certificate to ONE LUCKY PERSON! Make sure to comment below to let us know you’ve visited and let us know what color your journal would be. Visit each artist’s blog for more chances to win (comments are due no later than midnight EST on April 28, 2019!) We will pick ONE winner on April 29, so watch this space to see if you are a winner!

Be sure to visit the StencilGirl Talk blog to learn more about our collaboration, and click on the blog links below to see each member’s completed Resketch journal in full and learn about their inspiration!

Thank you!!! Thank you for being so open with your struggles… as much as I hate how people suffer with different issues… love how you have faced them head on… and done such an amazing job on this challenge…. wouldn’t be my color choice but you have done great with it!

What a wonderful tribute for yourself! Loving all the different elements and text you have used. On your pages called “Embrace Aging”, “Tell Me No Lies” and “Accept Your Flaws & Limits”, did you use black felt pieces in different shapes? Brings back memories of my scrapbooking days when I collected every imaginable felt product out there. LOL

Thanks so much, Anna! On those pages I actually used some manufactured cardstock die-cuts with glitter on them–holdouts from MY scrapbooking days! 😉 I stumbled upon them in the closet in my studio and thought they were good accents for some areas that were in need of embellishment.